mets citi field scoreboard
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets returned home to Queens to start a three-game series on Tuesday night with the Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately, it was more of the same story from the past few weeks. The fans were clearly fed up, and the same could be said about the Citi Field scoreboard.

Tuesday’s series opener followed a familiar script for New York. Tampa got out to an early lead, and the Mets’ offense began the game flat. Manager Buck Showalter’s club woke up in the later innings to make it a game, but it was too little, too late.

Do you know what makes things even worse when you’re getting your butts whooped, though? Having your big, beautiful, and expensive new jumbo scoreboard malfunction in the middle of it all.

That’s what happened in the top of the sixth inning. The game was momentarily halted because the scoreboard malfunctioned. Before it returned to normal, the Rays’ logo was stuck on the screen long enough to make the fans boo about it. And then New York surrendered yet another homer.

This perfectly sums up how things are going for the Mets right now. Subconsciously, the Citi Field scoreboard just wants to be associated with a winning team like the Rays. You know, the squad with MLB’s best record right now.

There’s still a chance for the Mets to make the 2023 season one to remember, for the right reasons. However, as the late, great Yogi Berra used to say, “It’s getting late early.”

New York has to find some way to get its mojo back because it’s too late. Maybe they should try going back to those Phillies-themed jersey ad patches? Maybe they should call up Mark Vientos and/or Ronny Mauricio? I don’t know. They need to try something because what they’re doing right now is definitely not working.

You can reach Matt Musico at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.